What does original sin actually mean and what are its consequences?

[Sealkin (Quinn)]

@Anthony

he consensus here seems to be that Genesis 1 and 2 aren’t mean’t to be taken literally. What does Original Sin actually mean and what are its consequences? The idea that there was a time when humans had no knowledge of good/evil or that they were incapable of raping, stealing or murdering is inconsistent with evolution. This is because human morality evolved with the human mind gradually over hundreds of thousands or even millions of years. So if you believe that god used evolution, then Original Sin could not have manifest as a sudden event in the natural world.

First off I wish to say that humans have original sin and that all humans have it. I see it more as a spiritual issue rather then a biological one that cannot be solved by science. It starts in the heart at birth and over time with maturity it grows in us and we become evil in our thoughts in ways such as not listening to our parents when we are young, stealing toys, being means and as we get older it gets much worse.

@Anthony

The idea that there was a time when humans had no knowledge of good/evil or that they were incapable of raping, stealing or murdering is inconsistent with evolution.

Humans did have knowledge of what was good and evil and we got it from God. The issue was that when we ate of the Forbidden Fruit, we decided on what was evil and good outside of God and thus became like our own gods defining what is right and wrong. God gave the first humans divine inspiration to have knowledge and the capacity to do so. The issue is not that we had now knowledge, but the issue is that we decided to no longer trust what God had told us what was right and wrong and decided to define it ourselves.